Andrew Barth Feldman on His Instant Chemistry With Jennifer Lawrence and Shooting in His Hometown
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Name: Andrew Barth Feldman
Born and Raised: Nassau County on Long Island, which is, coincidentally, exactly where his new movie “No Hard Feelings” was shot. “It was literally down the street from my childhood home,” he says.
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Notable Past Credits: Feldman had a run on Broadway in 2019 as the lead role in “Dear Evan Hansen.”
Currently: Not even a full year ago, Feldman submitted his first audition tape for “No Hard Feelings,” for the role opposite Jennifer Lawrence. Now the 21-year-old is taking a victory lap as the movie — his first feature film in theaters — is out. His first feature was supposed to be in Noah Bambachu’s “White Noise,” but during the filming of “No Hard Feelings” he learned his scenes had been cut. He was pretty optimistic that wouldn’t happen this time, given he’s now the co-lead.
“I’m all over it,” he jokes.
His character Percy in “No Hard Feelings” was described as “sensitive and anxious and awkward,” which filled Feldman with confidence. “I was like, ‘oh boy, those are all my buzzwords. That’s what I’m pretty good at doing,’” he says. “But I didn’t get the chance to read the script before doing my first tape. When I did finally read the script, I was so thankful because I would’ve needed the job too much. I would’ve done a bad job at the tape because I wanted it so badly. It’s such an excellent script and it’s such a gift for any actor, but it felt particularly like a gift made for me.”
On His First Meeting With Jennifer Lawrence: “I was so intimidated just getting into the room, I was really nervous. I respected her so much. I felt the pressure — but she is just awesome and she instantly put me at ease and was herself and left room for me to be myself. There is no getting luckier in another costar. She was just so gracious and considerate from the very beginning,” Feldman says. “[Director] Gene [Stupnitsky] deliberately wanted to keep us apart at the beginning, actually. He wanted us to have this awkward relationship, but as soon as we got on set that was shot down. We became so close right away, oversharing, telling each other our deepest, darkest secrets, day one.”
Going From Broadway to Movies: “It wasn’t difficult as much as it was just a switch in my brain. It really is a different thing. It’s some of the same skills, of course, but on Broadway doing theater, you tell a whole story every night. You’re your own editor. You can tell the full story in the way you want it to be told. Whereas in a film, you’re going to say a line 17 times today, and then you’re going to go home and never think about it again,” he says. “So in all those 17 times, you have to try every version of it that might be viable for telling this story that might be needed and surrender to our director and editor that they’re going to piece together the story that they want to tell, they’re in control of that. So it’s my job to give them every tool, every version of it that they could work with.”
Filming in His Hometown: “I was so in touch with the kid who grew up there dreaming about [acting], and also the kid who grew up there and felt really stuck in many ways, and that was so connected to Percy,” Feldman says. “It was a difficult experience for sure to be in that bubble again, but it was also really, really helpful for meeting Percy where he was.”
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